The Videodisk: Technology, Applications, and Some Implications for Archives

As a medium of information storage and retrieval, the video or optical disk affords certain advantages such as high-density storage capabilities, image stability, and speed of recall. This article reviews current videodisk technology and discusses some of its strengths, advantages, and problems as well as its potential as a medium of recording, storage, and retrieval for archival materials, both textual and pictorial. Also considered are the experimental and exploratory uses of the videodisk for archival purposes as conducted in pilot programs by the Public Archives of Canada and by the Library of Congress. Although the videodisk is relatively new and as yet has not been adopted as a permanent storage medium on a large scale, its technical potential is such that its use in archives should not be overlooked.